Adi Shankara (788 CE - 820 CE) was an Indian
philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, the most
influential sub-school of Vedanta. His teachings are based on the unity
of the soul and Brahman, in which Brahman is viewed as without
attributes.

Shankara travelled across India and other parts of South Asia to
propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other
thinkers. He founded four mathas ("monasteries"), which helped in the
historical development, revival and spread of Advaita Vedanta. Adi
Shankara is believed to be the founder of the Dashanami monastic order
and the Shanmata tradition of worship.

His works in Sanskrit, all of which are extant today, concern themselves
with establishing the doctrine of Advaita (Nondualism). He also
established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the
Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mimamsa school
established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. Shankara relied
entirely on the Upanishads for reference concerning Brahman and wrote
copious commentaries on the Vedic Canon (Brahma Sutra, Principal
Upanishads and Bhagavadgita) in support of his thesis.

Shankara was born to Kaippilly Sivaguru Nambudiri and
Aryambya Antharjanam in the region of Kalady, in central Kerala.
According to lore, it was after his parents, who had been childless for
many years, prayed at the Vadakkunnathan temple, that Sankara was born
under the star Thiruvathirai.

His father died while Shankara was very young. Shankara's upanayanam,
the initiation into student-life, was performed at the age of five. As a
child, Shankara showed remarkable scholarship, mastering the four Vedas
by the age of eight.

From a young age, Shankara was inclined towards
sannyasa, but it was only after much persuasion that his mother finally
gave her consent. Shankara then left Kerala and travelled towards North
India in search of a guru. On the banks of the Narmada River, he met
Govinda Bhagavatpada, the disciple of Gaudapada. When Govinda
Bhagavatpada asked Shankara's identity, he replied with an extempore
verse that brought out the Advaita Vedanta philosophy. Govinda
Bhagavatapada was impressed and took Shankara as his disciple. The guru
instructed Shankara to write a commentary on the Brahma Sutras and
propagate the Advaita philosophy.

One of the most famous debates of Adi Shankara was
with the ritualist Mandana Mishra. Mandana Mishra's guru was the famous
Mimamsa philosopher, Kumarīla Bhatta. Shankara sought a debate with
Kumarīla Bhatta and met him in Prayag where he had buried himself in a
slow burning pyre to repent for sins committed against his guru:
Kumarīla Bhatta had learned Buddhist philosophy from his Buddhist guru
under false pretenses, in order to be able to refute it. Learning
anything without the knowledge of one's guru while still under his
authority constitutes a sin according to the Vedas. Kumarīla Bhatta thus
asked Adi Shankara to proceed to Mahismati (known today as Mahishi
Bangaon, Saharsa in Bihar) to meet Mandana Mishra and debate with him
instead. After debating for over fifteen days, with Mandana Mishra's
wife acting as referee, Mandana Mishra accepted defeat. Ubhaya Bhāratī
then challenged Adi Shankara to have a debate with her in order to
'complete' the victory. Later, Ubhaya Bhāratī conceded defeat in the
debate and allowed Mandana Mishra to accept sannyasa with the monastic
name Sureśvarācārya, as per the agreed rules of the debate.

Adi Shankara founded four Mathas to guide the Hindu
religion. These are at Sringeri in Karnataka in the south, Dwaraka in
Gujarat in the west, Puri in Orissa in the east, and Jyotirmath (Joshimath)
in Uttarakhand in the north. Hindu tradition states that he put in
charge of these mathas his four main disciples: Sureshwaracharya,
Hastamalakacharya, Padmapadacharya, and Totakacharya respectively. The
heads of the mathas trace their authority back to these figures. Each of
the heads of these four mathas takes the title of Shankaracharya ("the
learned Shankara") after the first Shankaracharya.

Advaita ("non-dualism") is often called a monistic
system of thought. The word "Advaita" essentially refers to the identity
of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman). The key source texts for
all schools of Vedānta are the Prasthanatrayi– the canonical texts
consisting of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras.

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